Data center noise limits
At a glance
Based on auto-generated captions; names and details may be misheard.
- What: whether and how noise from data centers and other industrial sites can be limited and measured.
- Where it stands: at the 10/19/2026 hearing Spinosa asked the health department about noise. Dr. Randolph said the municipal noise code mostly covers vehicles and animals, and that he read a limit of up to about 70 decibels; the department would need to explore whether it applies to industrial sites. It does not own decibel measuring equipment.
- Next: noted as something for the council to consider in its ordinance work; noise was also raised at the first hearing on 10/8/2026 with council attorney Alan Wade.
First hearing (10/8/2026)
- Alan Wade told the committee that no other agency controls sound and the city noise code only covers vehicles and construction hours. Under the new review process applicants would file a sound remediation plan against objective standards to be set at a later hearing; Walker asked whether noise would be handled inside the ordinance or separately.
Sources
- 2026-10-08 - Planning & Zoning (2) (hearing video, 10/8/2026)
- 2026-10-08 - Planning & Zoning (earlier upload of the same 10/8/2026 session; no additional discussion)
- 2026-10-19 - Planning & Zoning (hearing video, 10/19/2026)
Discussion time
About 5 minutes across 2 meetings (from transcript timestamps; approximate).
| Meeting | Minutes |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-19 - Planning & Zoning | 2 |
| 2026-10-08 - Planning & Zoning (2) | 3 |
Log
- 2026-10-08 - Planning & Zoning (2) — Wade on the gap in the noise code and sound remediation plans.
- 2026-10-19 - Planning & Zoning — Brief exchange on the noise code and the lack of measuring equipment.